I love infusing herbs, spices and teas with different types of alcohols. Seriously, if you haven’t tried it, I’d highly suggest that you do. Infusing alcohols with a variety of flavors really kicks your cocktail game up a bit. In the fall, I enjoy chai tea lattes. The chai flavor is so bold that I think it pairs quite well with bourbon. Imagine that; a chai infused bourbon.

Flavored alcohol is fine, I mean, I have a few bottles of some random flavored things on my bar. But infusing alcohol yourself gives you all of the control in the flavor department. Not only can you get creative in your concoctions but you can also play around with a few combinations and ideas to see what it is you like. To test and see what herbs and spices you prefer, use small batches of alcohol to test out different varieties of fruits and herbs.

I randomly thought of infusing chai tea with bourbon out of boredom. Also because I had a plethora of chai tea lying around the kitchen and wanted to do something with it. The natural thing to do is infuse it with bourbon, right?

How do you prep chai infused bourbon?

Just like any infusion, this one is really easy.  The key with infusing chai tea with bourbon is to make sure it doesn’t sit too long because it becomes bitter. I allowed 2 teabags to steep in roughly 1 cup of bourbon for 8 hours. Normally when I create infusions, they sit a little longer than 8 hours. Sometimes my infusions sit overnight other times they infuse for days. It really just depends on what the ingredients are.

When the tea is done steeping, the bourbon will smell so good; like a really strong cup a tea.

Pour your freshly infused bourbon in a glass with a large ice-cube or if you’re feeling frisky, skip the ice and enjoy it neat.  I topped mine with ginger ale but not just any ginger ale; it has to be top-notch. A ginger beer would be nice too; it’ll intensify all of the flavors.

Cheers!

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